Arrhythmia
by Beast of Honor
Summary: In the cold light of morning, while everyone's yawning, they'll hide. My alternate version of Rose and Cybil in Silent Hill. Told from Cybil's point of view. Rated R for Violence, Language and Sexual Content in later chapters. RoseXCybil.
1. Part I

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Silent Hill or any of the characters. What I do own is this story.  
**Plagiarism is awful. Just say no.**

**-**

Arrhythmia  
By destroy

**Part. I**

When I close my eyes, I am away from here. Lush fields of green lay out before me, sprinkled by the beaded intensity of summer flowers. Spinning. Twirling. I am at peace. I can run until I fall; face first into the soft petals of dandelions, they would sweetly kiss me with their scent. The wicked betrayal of love, my stress, flushed away into the ocean of the sky above me. Time has slipped through the cracks in the soil. And in the distance, I can hear music. A sweet song; it was a female voice.

I could feel that others have been here before, beautiful and supernatural. Their shy presence graces me and offers protection. As I settled into a bed of the Earth, the melody rang closer to my ears. My skin was flush with the warm embrace of the sun.

On the opposite end of my back, lay the night. The stars here would eventually burn through the velvet ambience, until the dusk can no longer exist. But even if the stars were to fail, I would not be afraid of the dark. I am watched. Saved and secure.

"_I will be okay here."_

My felicitous mind is adrift, dreaming with the cool breeze. Cradled by the strong arms of the universe, my body limply sways from side to side. Content, so content. Shh. This was my place. Angels flew around me, their cotton-candy wings swirled with the snowy clouds. I can feel their caring gaze bless me. I closed my eyes.

A blanket of serenity enveloped my body. Its protection was tight and secure around me, my neck. The air was compressed against my skin. I couldn't breathe, but do I really need to here? This was my world. I was safe here.

The deviant rough play of the current grew stronger, stronger, and soon I was gasping for air. My eyes shocked open to the atrocious sight of my blue sky gone. The nauseating stench of the dead filled my passages. The once beautiful song has turned into a painful scream that scratched at the inside of my skull.

"_No. Not here."_

The nightmarish scream bore on. Closer.

"_HELP ME!"_

Closer.

"_SOMEBODY!"_

Closer…

My eyes jolted. I lay with my back against the wall, legs pulled to my chest. Darkness has once again engulfed me. The stout barrier I balanced upon has become a pocket of flesh and pain. My attempt at rest was shaken and the room breathed upon my soul. My respiring had already grown rapid. Seemingly infrared perception, my eyes quickly refocused from the sun to the night, and I was aware of the shuffling around me. Stumbling to my feet, I drew my firearm and clicked on my flashlight attachment.

The building seemed as though it was closing in on me, trying to trap me between its stripped arms. I could feel it inhaling and exhaling, malevolent tumors pulsated and brought anguish to my brain.

The surroundings were absent of fiends, yet sinister. On the other end of my standing, I could hear a woman howling. I had encountered the reason that I was in the town and without much thought I ran towards the voice. My boots slapped against the damp ground followed by a crude squish. The small circle of light I gave bounced off of void spaces which bred insanity and finally off of woman huddled in the corner, her hands over her ears.

I tucked my weapon away. Reaching out, I placed my gloved hand underneath her arm. She screamed louder and harder, her eyes still tightly closed. Plainly, she had mistaken me. I ignored her shouts of "no" and "please" and pressed her unwilling body towards the exit of the building. She fought me, clawing and scratching me. She tried to lower her body to the floor the way a stubborn child would. My stress had found its way back to me as I pulled the woman off of the sticky ground and pushed her through the threshold.

The door slammed shut behind us and resounded throughout the silence we were faced with. Her screams were halted and an abrupt look of confusion crossed her face. The world on the other side once again greeted us with twisted normalcy. The light burned our eyes. She curved and turned, searching her body for evident wounds to define the fear she felt. I slowly caught my breath and brushed the rusty blood of the building off of my arms.

"Thank God. Another person! I—I don't understand what's going on here. What's happening here?"

Her voice was balmy yet dry.

I didn't reply. How the hell was I supposed to know what was going on? We were trapped in a dimension, confronted by the worst of our thoughts that would be pulled back at the last possible moment by some sort of mocking God who thrived on our dread.

We had inhabited a world where in a split-second we can cease to be.

I shook my head.

"I've never seen this before."

"Is this actually happening? Are we still alive?"

"As far as I know. A better question would be why you decided to come here?"

"My daughter…"

Seeking the help of her ill-medicated daughter, this woman had brought the girl here after constant requests and sleep walking had her screaming the name "Silent Hill". Unmistakably the help of a professional was not enough to satisfy or cure their condition. Perhaps this woman wanted to see what her daughter can see. If this was a paradise or vacation, I had seen enough.

"What's your name?"

"Rose."

Her flaxen hair stuck to the sides of her humid face. Her eyes seemed ashamed, hiding the fact that admittedly she had been wrong in coming here.

I knew this place. A previous mission had brought me before the town. My memory had not been muddled in remembering the isolation. The city seemed to have departed from the realm of sanity and hovered in a place between death and hell. Even if I was able to think a rational thought, I would have no explanation as to what could've happened since my last visit. I had switched off into survival mode and the only thing I wanted was to leave.

"We need to find your daughter and get out here."

I stepped past Rose and withdrew my gun from the holster.

"…Thank you."

I didn't know where to begin and the fact that time was winding down to our next death sentence made me want to spit. A thick white haze followed us; the spirits of the town seemed to be shuffling along in search of an escape route as well. We had to stay close or become invisible. Rose walked beside me.

The distance covered by our footsteps echoed behind us. Daylight seemed as extinct as humanity, for the light we walked by surely wasn't the sun. The gloomy desperation of the town was maddening. I wanted to return to where I was; to close my eyes and wake up in the grass. I couldn't get there. When I looked up into the sky, flakes of ash burned into my eyes and forced me to see what stood before me. My Heaven had departed.

**A/n** – Reviews are always appreciated. Part II to be added shortly.


	2. Part II

**Arrhythmia**  
By destroy  
---

**Part. II**

In the windowpanes of vacuous restaurants, I saw our reflections. The caked on grime gave us a worn appearance. She was disheveled and dirty. Quiet yet irrational.

Nearby shop signs swayed and creaked innocently in the warm breeze. Classes of mannequins peered through stained windows with their smiles and well-being frozen in time. I took the air at a quick pace, crushing aged yellow newspapers under my heel. The hopelessness of the town washed over me with each step I took, overwhelming and almost bringing me down.

We hadn't been saying much to each other. At this moment she still didn't even know my first name. And what was there to know about her? Rose: a prisoner in her own home, her marriage. She was incredibly naïve, though wounded in her heart. She wanted reciprocated love from a never-ending source: her daughter.

My gun was beginning to feel heavy in my hands as I cocked the barrel towards the concrete. We trotted in silence, past the familiar empty buildings.

The cracked street was sick with steam below our feet. The blaze below wanted badly to break free. I clipped the ground lightly, as if my tip-toeing would not disturb the Devil.

How was I able to once elude this Hell unscathed?

"Let's try this way."

Rose peered up from behind a posted map. She ran as quickly as she could towards a similar looking street that seemed to go on for miles. Her breathing bounced rapidly in her chest, as she pressed on with an exhausted will.

Though it was out of my jurisdiction, I felt that I should've said something or at least led the way. But I was lost and desperate. At this point, the wind could've mildly nudged my back and I would've gone in its direction. Even if I was armed, my gun was as useful as my faith.

I followed her.

-

A mother with nothing but love for her kin, I had to admit that her determination was admirable. It was not my part to rekindle her marriage or counsel her affections, though. The child was kidnapped by the mist, and that thought is what kept me going.

My chest was starting to burn. My utility belt weighed me down and my limbs felt as though they would fall apart below me. The residue raining from the sky soaked into our skin, our eyes. It was hard to see and my stamina was diluted.

I had no sense of time here. I glanced down at my watch.

9:42.

The hands were forever glued to the last moment in which I had a chance to burst free. Would I let this woman speed off while I turned the other direction?

9:42...I cherished the past. My wrist held the only reminder that a world outside of here does exist and I was able to once dwell in it.

-

Rose began coughing as her lungs tried to grab more of a breath than it could handle. Hunched over, hands on her knees, she spewed bile onto the smoking asphalt.

"Rose!"

Tucking the weapon away, I placed my hand on her shoulder as she lurched underneath me.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She choked and wiped her mouth. "Come on, we have to hurry."

"Rose… I think we should rest for awhile."

She stared at me, unwilling to stop. But her eyes were tired. Her denial was rotting her energy. She was sure to give.

"Sharon! We have to get to her."

Pulling away from my hands, she continued at a much slower rate. How was I to convince someone to put their child on hold for the sake of their own well-being? I stood for awhile and watched her. Sauntering slowly and further into the town, the fog hugged her body and her form was almost invisible. Chasing her is what got me here in the first place. I felt small resentment for the woman even coming here. I wanted to slap the sides of her face and knock some sense into her. I sighed into the dirty air.

-

Where would I be right now, had I not hazarded back here?

…Rose was gone. I pressed forward.

The past of Silent Hill haunted me somehow, though its demise was not in my power. I wondered to myself what it would be like to know that home to these souls no longer exists. To know that they now step outside underneath a stranger sky, the sounds of their children's laughter silenced. Were Rose and I just intruders? The thought had crossed my mind. If we make it at all, what will the world look like to us now? Will we forever take the green grass and our familiar routes for granted? Will we shun the flat love of our families? Or will we crawl out of this Hell kissing the ground and revering God?

Up ahead on the path I could see a figure heaving and hunched on its side. Rose. Her body had caved in and she lay crying and forlorn on the dirty street.

"Sharon…" She cried. "…where are you?"

Her voice was cracking and I was amazed that she was still able to cry. She scratched her fingernails into the ground, searching for something stable to hold onto. Her ardent tears spider webbed clean trails down her dirty cheeks. The world was spinning around her, she was lost. Her fractured scream of her child's name had me steadying my foot on the street for balance.

"Rose."

I knelt beside her and carefully sat her up.

"We're going to find her. I promise. You just need to take a break. You're exhausted."

My promises were empty. I had no idea where Sharon was. My suggestion of rest was at my own cause though I couldn't admit it. I felt as hopeless as she did.

"Come on."

I coaxed her, raising her to her feet.

Peering from left to right, I searched for a suitable place to catch our breath. A rusted out café peeked back from the distance, its door was detached from the hinges.

We urged on towards the building. My hands grasped each side of her shoulders, as support for her next fated failed step. She continued to sob. I didn't know how to comfort the woman. "_Shh_." I wanted to tell her. "_Everything is going to be okay_." But I had made enough false commitments.

-

The barrel of my gun poked into the doorway first. Empty. I gestured for Rose to follow me, as I headed to a small reserved area in the back. The floorboards below us creaked and made my heart jump. Broken teacups lay on their shattered sides. Dry coffee stained the tables.

I pulled out a chair.

"Sit. Relax and breathe. We'll head out when I think you're ready."

Rose sat without much to say. She was defeated and distressed. She whispered to a small locket which she wore around her neck. "_Sharon_", she kept saying. "_I'm coming, baby_."

Clipping my holster shut, I sat across from her. She glanced at me every now and then, before resting her head on the table and softly shutting her eyes. Her breathing was slowly steadying, her fingers still inter-locked around the charm. A thought raced through my mind to stroke this woman's hair, to hug her and apologize for her loss. But I kept my place.

The room was quiet and still. I felt tired but I will not sleep. Soon the walls will be black. The alarms will sound in the distance. It was a menacing thought that the silence will soon be disturbed. The idea had me once again resting my hand on my weapon. Right now it seemed as though it was just the two of us. Her soft breathing…

_In…out…in…out._

I've seen it though. And I know it's real.

_In…out…._

The shadows were coming…listen, and you'll hear.

----

**A/n** - Reviews are always appreciated. Part III to be added shortly.


	3. Part III

**Arrhythmia**  
By destroy  
---

**Part. III**

A bleached photograph glowed pale from the beam of my flashlight. A young couple smiled back at me. I figured that these two were gone by now, perhaps the owners of this coffeehouse. Their remains probably lay crumbled beneath my feet…with her.

And it's times like this that my memories go backwards and she inhabits my mind. Mother. My soul will never forget, but I hated to remember the last days.

I was younger then. I watched the ground swallow her. The sun didn't even grace us with its presence one last time. The ravens pointed their beaks and laughed loudly at my grief. And when I spoke to her, she didn't reply. I stood alone on the cold swollen ground, walked back into a new unknown world. When I looked for her, my sides were always empty. My innocence rested with her, my happiness gave up. Nobody held my hand after that, and for the following years I would always head home alone. God was never with me, and I will never forgive him for what was stolen.

I softly set the photograph down and continued my search of the room. Rose still slept soundly.

Dust covered each crevice in the building and invaded my airway. Empty coffee cans, hollowed out biscuit-trays, monochrome dead love; there was nothing of use in here. I retook my seat, waiting for the walls to collapse and Rose to awaken.

-

Outside of the window a figure shuffled by. Its slimy human form swayed from side to side, black acid dripping and burning holes into the street. Purple veins lined the limbs like the roads on a map. Its blind instinct searched for us. I held my breath as it passed.

Rose shifted in her seat and slowly raised her head from the table. Her fatigued eyes focalized and glanced at me in a shocked then relieved look. Without saying anything, she rubbed the slumber from her face and headed towards the door.

She was impossible. I knew there was nothing I could say to stop her, so I cut her off at the door, pushing her to the side.

I slid the broken wood open enough to check left from right. The creature continued down the road. I looked back at her. It was easy to lose my patience with this woman. She gazed back at me, a look of annoyance on her face. She softly tried fighting me aside to squeeze through the opening. Releasing my grip on the door, I placed my hand on her chest and roughly shoved her against the wall. Her back freed the bindings of the cracked wallpaper and dust blew out from behind her spine. Terror and hurt crossed her expression.

"You need to be alive to find your daughter."

She didn't say anything.

I remembered the acid burning holes into the street. I imagined the same acid burning holes through my flesh. This was an evil I didn't wish to meddle with.

I sighed.

"When we get outside, we're going to run."

I wrapped my fingers around her arm.

-

Taking a deep breath, I pulled the door completely open and charged outside pulling Rose along with me. The deceptive landscape bounced before us as our steps beat the ground. I looked behind us as we got going and saw wads of these things trotting behind. My legs pumped as hard as they would take me, Rose tried to keep up.

Time was gone, how far away was yesterday? The further we ran, the closer our death seemed.

The previous demon was now in our line of sight. Our breathing was in unison. My throat burned. As we passed the creature, it inhaled deeply and purged a stream of poison in our direction. Rose screamed at the sound and halted. The pit-pat of the drops hitting the street rang, along with the sizzle of the dying concrete. She was hit in the leg. I could smell her skin singe.

"COME ON!"

I carried on forward, nearly detaching her limbs from their sockets. She was once again hysterical and I felt the same. I could feel her trembling beneath my fingers. This nightmare went on limitlessly in my head. I didn't nearly have enough ammo to take all of them down. Did we need to run forever? My stamina overpowered me and Rose was being dragged on the asphalt by now, blood trickling from her thigh.

-

Our sanctuary was a narrow back street. The gray cinder-blocks closed us in from the wickedness just a few feet away. We had managed to squeeze through the slender space between the abandoned store-houses. A rusted steel-wire fence to my right prevented us from crawling in deeper.

The toxic substance blistered on the bottom of my heels. The quad was tight and our bodies compacted against each other. She heaved below me. Adrenaline pulsed through my vessels; I couldn't express what I was feeling.

Dark mucus-like fluid adhered to the strands of Rose's hair burning the tips into a dull blonde. Tiny rips polka-dotted throughout her cardigan, the aftermath of the venom spray. We were still alive. Her hot breath inhaled and exhaled onto my face. This woman proved to me that we were here. She was sane and even if she was stubborn, she was all I had.

She stood peeking down the alleyway at the monsters that kept dragging by. Tears still flowed from her eyes but she wept silently. The physical and emotional damage must've been overwhelming. Here we hid, terrified of the obscure. The small wound on her leg still bubbled, though not as harshly.

-

I pinched her hair between my fingers removing the last of the phlegm. She turned to look at me. Her eyes glittered in the dead light, her dirty lips quivered.

"I'm afraid."

She whispered sadly.

She spoke what was evident. I've been afraid before. Afraid to walk home alone, to sleep alone. This was a new terror, and though I would've given anything to see my mother again my own cowardice had me wanting to live.

"I can't…I can't do this." She continued.

My brain fumbled for decent words to say. Her child-like fright had _me_ ready to cry. Why was I feeling this way? A connection flowed from her to me, but I saw nothing, only felt it.

I wet my dry lips and spoke.

"It'll be…"

From the corner of my eye, I saw one peer from the edge of the wall. Rose's whispers shifted. I quickly placed my hand over her mouth before she could scream. It turned its head from side to side, sensing us but not yet finding us. Its face inches away. Her torso shook violently against me, giving off movement. Instinct found me, I hugged her. I pulled her body closer to mine, hand still clamped over her lips. She clung back for her own protection, hiding her eyes on my shoulder.

I had no doubt in my mind that we would be spotted. This thing will angle its head and hit us full force with its liquid fire. I would watch Rose burn while I helplessly waited my turn. Closing my eyes, I held her tighter. Though my mind was adrift with soon being greeted with my mother, I gained comfort in having something to hold onto. The familiar sense of security I had been stripped of came rushing back to my senses. I could faintly remember now the feeling of having someone there. And I wasn't going to let go.

I could feel the town watching us; the fog without a face.

Not knowing what else to do, I stood there telling myself lie after lie.

_We'll make it. We'll do something that has never been done. This will be remembered._

I imagined us escaping. Maybe I could show Rose a real sky, the blossoms. We could travel away. There she would be comforted. Maybe then I could tell her that everything was going to be alright. And it would be true. But as it was the town didn't like us. We were only prey. I didn't want to end up like one of these. I shut my eyes tighter. I envisioned nothing. My memory was pulled tight around the blade that was Silent Hill. As soon as I felt relief, my hope sank like a stone in the ocean.

I couldn't even depend on my dreams.

----

**A/n** - Reviews are always appreciated. Part IV to be added shortly.


	4. Part IV

**Arrhythmia**  
By destroy  
---

**Part. IV**

Zero-hour on the city street, my mind was tender as my brain sought for ataraxis. The attempt was futile. The hum of my head meshed roughly with her tears producing a sound so sad I would rather be screaming.

Were we caught, or had we stood here silent for some time just for the defense of being held? I dreadfully opened my eyes.

Black turning to white hurt, but I was graced with an empty opening. It was gone. My lungs shot full force; inhaling the poison air for all that it was worth. Cancerous, but it felt good to breathe.

"Rose, it's okay. It's gone."

She lifted her head from my chest and doubtingly faced the entrance way. She then turned to face me. We reached an awkward secrecy like a dirty film. Still upright, skin against skin. I felt dependant. I didn't want to leave the space we were lost in. She could've been what I had to look forward to. But she hugged me back for her own protection. How could I be so unfortunate? My logic fell upon my shoulders and dripped down my arms like the ashes, one by one. This was only a minute of failing.

She pressed herself off of me and slid out of the alley. I kept my place and rested my head against the hard brick behind me. My body felt relief for the fashion of a good breathing pace, but my heart still pounded heavily beneath my chest as if time went backwards. Breaking down only to survive didn't seem worth it.

"…Are you coming?"

Her voice cut through my train of thought. I nodded and quickly squeezed out of the gap.

-

Up ahead, the street was empty. Where did evil retire to when it bore of its hunt? We seemed to pass the same buildings over and over, my tired bones rode the conveyor of the city, straight into the residential district. At this point, rationality was gone. No distinction of the hours, we could've been here for years already. Maybe this explained the sick that I felt. No hope. No direction. We'll walk until we're invisible; until _we_ become the town. I wanted to fall by the wayside.

-

A defunct home was in our path, stalling our obscure destination. Rose stayed petrified, unsure of the death trap set for us, the door widely open. The windows frosted with dust made my assurance unclear. I turned to my left and nudged her.

"Let's go another wa—"

A loud rap against the glass startled the both of us. My nerves throbbed against my skin. Through the window a small girl peered out. Her hair was long, her face guilt-less.

"SHARON!"

Without hesitation Rose invaded the home, seeking the room her daughter inhabited. I chased after her in a strange chain of kinship. Bursting through the door, the dirt defiled my face. The dull light of outside shed jagged patterns over the walls. I forced through a cracked entrance and found her standing before an empty window frame. Sharon wasn't here. Instead, a person lay curled on the floor. Its naked body shined with blood, its dry skin gray. The skull rested bent and formless, un-human.

It didn't faze Rose.

"But. I saw her. She was here. Did you see her?"  
"It's a trick Rose. Sharon's not in here."

Our voices disturbed the dead at our feet. It slowly rolled over and stood stooping on its crooked legs. The face was disgusting and bubbled, eyes asymmetrical. My impatience on hell disappeared and life needed me once more. We slowly backed towards the door in unison.

"Keep moving." I tried to stay calm.

When our backs faced the hallway, it came to us at a more rapid pace. It reached a disintegrating palm towards Rose, thin bony fingers outstretched. Its jaw dislocated from its hinges and it let out a scream that punctured my ears. The sound of the siren amplified by hurt. The sharp ringing drilled holes through me. I grabbed Rose and pushed her into the adjoining room behind us. I turned to follow her when its claw like digits grabbed at my ankle and pulled my balance out from me. My chest hit the ground hard knocking the wind out of my throat. Its grasp squeezed my joints like a pair of jaws, grinding my bones, stopping the blood. I could almost hear the ivory cracking, the veins revealed. It still screamed at me, angry at our intrusion. And Rose cried for me.

I felt helpless and emaciated as it slowly pulled me back into the room. I twisted onto my back and kicked at its crown with my other foot, but the friction only grew tighter. Was this how I would go? My senses then rushed back into my head and I withdrew my firearm from the holster.

I pulled the trigger.

The hail of bullets bombarded through the face, returning me with the splattered tainted blood of the awful. The rampant gunfire returned my muted world. It fell once again; slumped across my leg and its own shredded brain. I propelled the lifeless hand off of my pained ankle and crawled towards Rose. She came to my aid pulling me into the room and shutting the door behind us.

-

We resided in a minor stodgy bedroom. She helped me to my feet and steered me as I limped numbly to the bed. I softly took a seat, the dirty mattress creaked below me, rusty springs recoiling. She sat beside me.

"Are you okay?"

I nodded and tucked my gun into the sheath.

"Yeah…I'll be okay."

I wiped the sweat and hot drying tears away from my eyes. I didn't realize that I had cried. I couldn't abide with the life and death option we had to work with; whether we would be found hot or cold the next morning. The leather cinched around my ankle was crinkled and gory. It wasn't broken, only pulsing. Why couldn't she have faith in me? Believe me when I say that we should turn the other way? The atmosphere was cracked, nothing felt right.

Rose sat staring at me, perhaps sensing my long awaited breakdown. But I held it all in.

She rubbed her thumb across my name plate, smearing the filth off the once proud and bright letters.

"Bennett." She said.

It took until this moment to realize that I was still a stranger to this woman. A less-known somebody at her beckoning call, regaining her each time despite her engagement to peril. But her touch could remind me of home. I would deliver her from the Devil; drag her from its clutches. Shred the wings of the angels, fight until I no longer existed.

"Cybil." I replied.

As long as I can recall the way I felt moments ago, the rotting beast outside the door could not disturb me. All I had left was remembering, but right now it wasn't enough. Her arms felt nice around me. It's grave that I needed her when I started to feel this way. Her warmth almost made me unable to function; paralyzed my heart so I couldn't experience this. And this is what nobody knows. If she would continue to sit beside me, she would've been my protection from myself.

A distorted savior that was here for me; she could restore my past of belonging. She could've been my veil.

-  
**A/n **– Reviews are always appreciated. Part V to be added shortly.


	5. Part V

**Arrhythmia**  
By destroy  
---

**Part. V**

A warm circle of light on the ceiling resembled the sun. When I had stared at it long enough I could see the reflection of the many lost summers to pass me by.

Outside of here, the midnight showers would be falling; spitting its seedless kiss of many flowers that would soon bloom. The crisp scent of the evening rain should be infiltrating my senses and lulling me to sleep.

But that was all so far away.

Instead, daffodils would line the atrium of my home which will soon be overgrown and worthless due to my missing status. Here, the rain would never find us and Silent Hill would never be washed away.

The heat of the light withdrew from the walls and my skin; I realized that my false morning sun was only my flashlight on the nightstand serving as a mock lantern.

-

It was stifling in here. I traced the corroded wooden floorboards with my gloved fingertips, but the act only seemed to transcend heat through my hands and into my heart. I had long since given up full use of the mattress to Rose who lay on her side, arms hanging from the bed, parallel to the ground. She had removed her soiled cardigan and placed it against the pillow top, her filth more sacred than that of this room.

I grew sick when I tried to envision anyone else who might've wandered with the same ideas that we had. They only collapsed in their own insanity and retired in the streets. They were the haze of this town.  
No, that was ridiculous. Still, the thought of their deaden smiles brought my knees up to my chest and a chill that crawled down my spine like a spider.

I glanced at Rose and imagined her skin slowly dissipating into the mist, most likely joining Sharon, their embrace kissing me with the cold and leaving me shivering in the dark. Though rejoined, that only made me feel worse.

-

I couldn't separate my emotions for her or understand why my remembrance of the alley made my heart pound hard beneath my chest. I only assumed that my centuries of affliction left me as shaken and charred as the city and she caught me off guard. With each look, it was harder to chase the sentiment away. This feeling of longing had thrown my stomach into knots that kept tightening and tugging until I would be ripped apart; I desperately wanted to return to the person I used to be.

I looked away when our eyes met.

-

The laces of my boot swelled open as I slowly loosened them. The pressures of my sore joints were immediately alleviated. I continued on to the next foot.

"I wonder what Chris is doing."

Her voice startled me out of the shadows. His name knocked the sense into me that I had been neglecting. I had forgotten that this woman belonged to a family which I was to protect and serve.

"…Chris is your husband?"

She nodded.

The conversation was out of convenience or guilt. They were unimaginative tales of Sharon's 1st birthday or her need for compassion from him. She couldn't reiterate strongly enough of how she would do things differently when her time comes to escape. She would notice this time when he wasn't in the room. She would hold his hand when he held hers. Their laughter would once again bring about the rise and fall of the sun.

I began to drift as to how I would perceive things if we escaped, but my ambition was in the uniform I wore. I couldn't imagine much of a difference of my past life versus the future me. I would still return to the same house. I would look out the same window every night and wonder what would become of me and more importantly what has become of her.

-

I had been going about everything in the worst way. I ventured into Silent Hill on the wrong foot and couldn't find the reassuring side of me. Cybil Bennett wasn't here. She resided somewhere in Brahams, never to seek out her missing core. Sweat began to trickle down the sides of my face. I forced out a smile to Rose, a soothing lie that brought a taste in my mouth that I couldn't rid of. It was building up in the back of my teeth so much that I was forced to swallow it down before I choked.

"I'm sure your husband is thinking of you right now."

She smiled at the thought and sat up from the bed. She once again began stroking the locket around her neck, fondly. It was only a matter of time until she would be home again. In her head, everything was going to be alright.

"I just want to go home." She began. "I've never felt so wrong."

She began to weep convulsively as the charm dropped from her fingers and bounced against her chest. I started to think that by now her tears would be expected, I could sit quietly and await her next collapse. I couldn't just watch her this time, I tried to occupy my thoughts with other pleasant things but she overpowered it all.

I stood from my spot and retook my seat beside her. I sat there unknowingly as she buried her face in her hands, her dizzying tears dripping off her face and onto her thighs.

"Rose…"

I drew her hands away from her face, crimson and swollen with anguish. Removing my gloves, I carefully ran my fingertips across her delicate wet cheeks, the hurt immediately seeping into me; I wistfully caught each new tear. The darkness of the room only showed small portions of her; I could see her watching me. She pushed my hands away and came in for a tight embrace. Her arms rolled around me. Her fingers squeezed and pinched at the flesh of my shoulder blades, fingernails leaving a sad impression on my shirt. I could feel her moist eyelashes batting against my neck, her lips modestly quivering against my collarbone.

I closed my eyes and sighed deeply.

_This is where I wanted to be._

The strands of her hair twisted between my fingers as my hand traveled from her head and slowly down her back. I became lost in the moment, fumbling towards a light that resembled my proverbial heaven. The turning and groping of each other's flesh was like a sunny day. I continued to wander farther and aimlessly into the clear that quickly withdrew when she spoke.

"Who will you be returning home to?"

My arms froze around her body. I didn't respond. The question brought a bloodied heat throughout my face. I felt ashamed and embarrassed that I didn't have an extravagant story to share. I didn't want to speak of visiting my mother's grave or the fact that I hadn't been touched in years. She rested on me awaiting my response. A small tinge of bravery grew throughout me and I gained relief in rejection rather than the truth. Perhaps tomorrow my shame will have vanquished with our souls.

Trembling, I titled her chin until our lips were horizontal. I took a deep breath and moved in cautiously until the affirmation was expelled with the salted chapped taste of Rose. She pulled away quickly, her breath still on me.

"Cybil, I…"

_No._

I kept my place, eyes still closed. I was thankful for the shadows we sat in. The nausea welled up worse inside of me; on the verge of tears I tried my hardest to hold it in. I couldn't pray for much else but for the sirens to sound in the distance. My death would only protect me from me. I released my clutch on her face and solemnly collected my gloves. There wasn't much else to hope for; I wanted to wander the streets away from her, far from emotion. My feeling of salvation from pride had disappeared. I couldn't even cope for the sake of myself.

I was only about to stand up from my seat when I felt it. She came back in. Her mouth mashed slightly against mine, the tender pucker squeezing my bottom lip between hers. There could be no better truth to the fact of how she made me feel. This was actually happening.

_Rose. What have you done to me?_

I pressed back onto her, lungs contracting and heart pumping feverishly.

**-  
A/n **– Reviews are always appreciated. Part VI to be added shortly.


	6. Part VI

**Arrhythmia**  
By destroy  
---

**Part. VI**

Twice in my life, time will stand still. This moment was in a room where she sat on the side of love, me on death. Her breath dispersed quickly between the one-inch spaces of our mouths, forming quick memories for me that were always on fire.

Our passing touch slowly began to pick up momentum. The pressure of her overactive lips hit mine hard, pulling me into her and knocking me down. Each time I reminded myself to breathe; she sucked the life out of me once more. My fingers were tingling and felt as though they were stretching beyond my skin; there was so much of Rose to know, but nowhere to start.

I tugged at the hem of her shirt, her warm flesh underneath fully escaped when she broke away from me and pulled the worn fabric up and over her head.

My soul was ignited. The soft glow of the flashlight and my dazed vision drew lush landscapes across her breasts; the reflection of the locket resting between the soft curves made her shine for me. Her cheeks were flush, burning pink through grey mascara stains. She sat bashful and unknowing, her pale torso heaving and yearning contact. My fingers wrapped around the delicate flesh; she gasped and returned my gesture by unclasping the silver buckle of my duty belt. Its weight fell freely from my hips and slid solemnly off the bed hitting the ground with a deep thump.

-

Her heat corroded my thoughts and blinded me; the stranger spark that she had lit ran through my veins at a speed that could finally erase the hurt. By now, her head rested on the damp pillow as she fumbled to release the buttons of my shirt. Her pale lips brushed slightly against my ear, drifting past the whispers of the room that sang us a love song.

As each notch was removed, my inhibitions pressed through harder. The muted bone of her fingertips traced the under-wire of my bra, until I felt the quick release of the clasp undone; the desire spilled full-force into her hungry palms.

The delicious odor of her mouth emanated throughout the stiff air. She stared at me with ocean eyes, pulling me under as I twisted and turned beneath the ruffling waves. Bathing me, taking my life and giving me life at the same time. I felt trapped between her liquid love and the seaweed of guilt that braided itself around my legs for holding such an untouchable face.

My wounds became known, yet she miraculously healed the invisible scars that were imparted and chiseled into my soul like a block of ice. With the magic she fed me, I was finally free until I broke away from her kiss for air. My never-ending source of ecstasy glittered before me with electric lips and a fierce gaze.

Rose captivated me.

-

Rough leather boots wrapped around my thighs with burning friction pulling me closer against her. I stroked her hair and kissed her lips, but there was a hard desire she lacked as she rocked her hips back and forth against mine. Taking heed, my fingertips sashayed beneath the pleated cotton of her tattered skirt and below her soft undergarments. Her head tilted back immediately, a long sigh of relief escaping from her lungs as she clutched at my scalp and pulled at my hair.

I pressed back onto her, wet tongues lashing and fighting each other, she sucked me in like she needed me and wanted me. My mind had long since abandoned the scruples of her lovesick husband when I felt her fingers slip inside of my pants.

-

Images on fast-forward passed my brain and left tracers of luster. I could see myself reflected; only this time things began to make sense. Her eyelids were stitched shut with the blonde threading of her eyelashes, lips parted and trembling.

This didn't need to be love, it just needed to be. To follow this newfound sense of the summer air and the world being ours was serious.

A tingling pulse danced throughout my limbs like tiny saints spilling buckets of younger blood onto my dry veins. The vessels rhythmically opened their mouths and swallowed the fluid to the tune of Rose's moan. I could see the red gushing up throughout my body leaving color in its quick path. It reached the obstacle of her legs tightening around me but managed to push through and finally flood my heart in its entirety. Our two forms seemed to stiffen against each other like the branches of a dead tree, its last leaf blowing off into the wind and screaming my name. My body pinned this dirty angel down, catatonic and dream-like. Her teeth bit hard into my neck with an animalistic fervor that slowly loosened its grip with each thump from her bosom.

The decaying air delayed us from catching our breath. She moaned softly to herself once more, a smile dancing across her lips before she placed them on me one last time. Coming undone had made her unafraid and calm.

-

For a long while there was silence, as our brains struggled to catch up with what just occurred. When I was able to think a rational thought, the passion was subdued and reality invaded the hunger in me. I wanted to run away from the fear and the pain but I knew that Rose didn't exist outside of Silent Hill. Her marriage left me distraught and there was a sad need to stay blind to the idea of reverting back to solitude. If there was a choice between death and Rose or life and emptiness, I would promise to collect the feathers and repair her wings.

-

After refastening my shirt, I picked my belt up from the floor and placed its familiar weight around me. I checked the rounds in my magazine and sadly awaited the worst to disrupt our peace.

"You helped me to forget things for a moment." She spoke, untwisting her tangled top and pulling it over her head.

I slid my gun into its holster.

"You helped me forget a lot of things." I replied

The light on the ceiling continued to burn as we patiently sat together, keeping our secret of the room warm and alive. Nothing good lasts forever, but the ghost of our lust will waft in here always, dancing with the dead between the haunted walls.

**-  
A/n **– Reviews are always appreciated. Part VII to be added shortly.


	7. Part VII

**Arrhythmia**  
By destroy  
---

**Part. VII**

Shadows drawn in the split face of a dream drove me from sleep. Our black forms on the wall lay entwined like Siamese twins, breathing rhythmically, relying on a single heartbeat. For the longest time I had only watched her, wishing that I was able to join her slumber. My eyes burned harshly through her skin, each blink only flashed an image where she was slowly carving herself into my eyelids where she might remain forever.

Here in the dark we were both the same; there were no families or homes to return to, only each other. That thought somehow left me at peace though I knew there was no medium in this place. The gloom will lift where I would only fade from her or the world will grow darker until she can't see me.

I closed my eyes tightly and began to grow frustrated that my logic didn't remain. Even my boots didn't seem to fit correctly anymore, I felt so unfamiliar to myself. I simply didn't know what I would do or how I would react to Rose not being here.

With each breath I took, time kept pushing me further away. I couldn't find my footsteps to follow my ghost back home.

-

She clutched my hand tightly in hers as she slowly woke. Her eyes focused intently onto mine with a calm understanding of where we were; there was almost no fear. At this moment, I realized how it would serve me better if she didn't look at me in this way. My insides were burning once more and my heart nearly exploded when my gaze left hers and trailed down to her other hand still grasping her locket.

My debt was so bitter, I nearly gagged. I didn't understand how the child had slipped my mind.

"Sharon."

Her lips curled into a smile. She seemed ambitious towards what seemed like starting a new day, as though her strength had been restored and Silent Hill was just a dream.

Thoughts raced quickly throughout my head, dizzying me and having me forever grateful for rest. I didn't want to leave our private space, the impure hush. I swallowed roughly this moment that was gone and returned a weak smile. Fingers drawn out, I caressed the delicate strands of hair from her eyes, seeking some sad favor of what could've been one last touch of her and rose up from the bed.

"Yes. Sharon."

I quickly turned my back to her and pretended to busy myself with my magazine clips. My heart was pounding so hard and at this moment I really just wanted to cry, to scream, to run. Did my touch just pass through her like a stranger on the street? Am I really so lifeless that she just does not feel me? I felt her gaze cutting through my back as she still sat on the bed. There was nothing left for me to do but find Sharon, return them to their family and…

"Cybil"

With reflex, my eyes closed at what was such an icy whisper on the back of my neck. I didn't move. The vicious fibers threaded into her core, hot to the touch on my lips and cold as the sea to my heart were set to destroy me. She grasped my arm and turned me to face her. I tried my hardest not to meet her. Maybe now she knew how weak I really was. The firearm was slowly pulled from my clutch as she carelessly tossed it onto the bed beside us and wrapped her arms around me warmly. My body automatically joined her as she was such my second nature.

"Tell me that you're scared," her breath hot again on my neck, feverous.

My disguise was decaying, crumbling at my feet. I'd never wished harder for a shadow to hide in. I needed Rose. I wanted her. I feared losing Rose in the darkness more than my own survival. The fright of her not existing to me was worse than death. Her thumb stroked the back of my skull soothingly. My mouth remained stitched shut, still grasping at her shoulder blades. Torsos pressed against each other, I wanted to crash through her, wave farewell to my sad skin and grab her silver lungs which haunted me so bad. I was saving the last of my sanity for her. I'd pretend I was brave until I couldn't take it. At this moment, I just couldn't bring myself to say it…

…I've never been so scared.

Waiting for a response that never came, her weight lifted from me as she turned and headed towards the door. Her hand was still wrapped in mine as she pulled me behind her. I swiftly wiped the warm tears swelling behind my dead vision, retrieved my gun and followed her through the passageway; our footsteps kicked up dust and clouded the love of the room as though it was never there.

-

Stolen sunlight left a miserable trace across the familiar pale sky, strewn across what seemed like a child's forgotten dollhouse. Again, the silence was deafening between us. I felt as though I should rehearse our escape plan for when the sirens sound, but my tongue was twisted and slack behind my teeth. I was beginning to feel angry and defeated at my cowardice lately and when I saw her small frame walking in front of me, one inch below me, I withdrew my hand from hers and spoke.

"Let's go this way."

"I think she's this way."

Her voice trailed behind me as I continued walking down my own path without her. I knew that it was unfair to direct my blind wrath towards her marriage, her daughter. All I could ask for was her hatred in return, breaking me when I step out of line. Despite the harm I'd already done, harm that couldn't be undone, this was what seemed like better behavior as my callous reputation was already tainted. I couldn't mask the feeling of evil boiling inside of me, Rose was so helpless but still I pressed on and she followed me quickly.

If we were to survive this, her lips had to just become one of my memories, her breathless gasp; just my fantasy.

Squinting down the street, I tried to comprehend what my next idea was when I felt her reach for my hand once more. What dead emotion was under her bones? Recovering was fatal. Quickly pulling away, I tugged on my firearm and clutched it in both hands instead.

She gave me air, a new day to venture, but I just couldn't breathe. There was nothing I wanted more than to have her always, but I knew the whispers and screams were lies. Strangely, there was so much I felt for this woman I hardly knew.

Recoiling from affection had me drowning in scarlet, choking in my own blood as my heart pleaded with me to hold her, to take her. But I continued to fondle the cold steel in my palm abandoning comfort and security, spending my life alone, as she lagged beside me desperate and dazed,

_Oh, the things we do for the sake of little girls._

**-  
A/n **– Reviews are always appreciated. Part VIII to be added shortly.


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